Modic Finishes Second in Pole Vault on Day 1 of AAC Championship
Feb 28, 2020 | Track & Field
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Sophomore Nastja Modic highlighted the Tulane indoor track and field team's first day in the American Athletic Conference Championship, recording a personal-best mark of 14.13 meters in the pole vault to secure a second-place finish.
After missing the mark on her first two tries, Modic came out on her third and final attempt and cleared the height, breaking her previous career-best 4.10 meters.
"I knew I could do it. The season has been going well and I was ready, so I'm happy with the result," Modic said. "On my third attempt, the girl who jumped before me didn't make it and so I thought, 'That's it. I have to do it,' and I just went out and jumped."
Modic finished third in last season's AAC Championship as a freshman, also setting a PR in the meet with a height of 3.99 meters.
Another career-best time for the Green Wave on Friday came from junior Kyah Loyd in the 60-meter hurdles. Loyd won her heat with a time of 8.35 seconds to qualify for the finals, moving up to the second all-time spot in program history.
Senior Brandi Hughes also won her heat in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line with a time of 8.47 seconds to stand in third in the preliminaries. Also running in the hurdles was senior Jessica Duckett, who finished 14th with a time of 8.83 seconds.
Recording two personal best marks in the long jump today was sophomore Trina Malej. Malej beat her previous record of 5.66 meters with a 5.76 meter jump, before beating it again on the next jump with a distance of 5.86 meters to land her a seventh-place finish. That mark ranks eighth in the Tulane record books.
Sophomore Hunter Robinson also notched a new career-best time in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 24.42 seconds. That time moves Robinson into the program's top 10 marks, putting her at sixth in school history.
Also running the 200 meter for the Green Wave was senior Maya Harewood, with a time of 24.92 seconds to finish in 19th, and sophomore Aldrianna Dupree, with a time of 24.98 seconds to finish 21st. Dupree was the sole runner to represent Tulane in the 60-meter dash, finishing 10th of 25 with a time of 7.53 seconds.
Fighting until the very end in the pole vault was sophomore Kristina Leggas, who battled despite an injury to finish seventh overall with a height of 3.78 meters.
Junior Pauline Helm finished the 800-meter in 13th overall with a time of 2:17.28. Senior Paige Fatland was not far behind her, recording a new personal record with a time of 2:20.55 to stand in 17th.
Harewood led the five runners who represented Tulane in the 400-meter dash, finishing 12th of 36 with a time of 56.07 seconds. Robinson was right behind her, in 14th with a time of 56.25, and was followed by sophomore Louise Jones (28th) with a time of 58.15, sophomore Oneke Gwan (31st) with a time of 58.73 and junior Asja Thompson (32nd) with a time of 58.93.
Wrapping up the running events for the Olive and Blue was senior Mary Catherine Stovall, who finished 24th in the 5,000 meter with a time of 18:40.38.
Junior Danielle Wember rounded out Tulane's competitors in the long jump, finishing 21st with a 5.27 meter mark.
Tulane stands in 10th with 12 points after one day of action, currently beating UConn and UCF. ECU leads the meet with 29.5 points, followed by Tulsa with 28 and Houston with 25.
The team will head back out to the CrossPlex on Saturday, set to finish out day two of the conference championship.
The high jump starts the day for the Green Wave, with sophomore Olivia Hicks set to compete at 9:45 a.m. Malej and junior Jordyn Lesh are back out at 11 a.m. for the triple jump, before Loyd and Hughes run in the 60-meter hurdles finals at 12:10 p.m.
Competing at 12:30 p.m. is freshman Maren Butler in the shot put, followed by junior Bridgid Selfors and Stovall in the 3,000 meter at 1:40 p.m. Tulane will close the weekend with the 4x400 meter relay at 2:40 p.m., as Harewood, Loyd, Jones and Robinson look to break into the top three standings.
Live stats this weekend will be available here, while the meet will also be streamed on the American Athletic Conference Facebook page here.
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